Posted - 07/03/2009 : 09:39:59 Itís been a while since my last blog. To be honest I have not been very inspired by much recently. The playoffs were decent hockey and the Balsillie drama was there, but it really wasnít anything new. Couple this with a nasty slice in my golf game that I have spent countless hours on the range trying to straighten (alas, to no avail). But I have really been interested with the Dany Heatley drama as of late

Firstly, letís get this out of the way. I am an Oiler Fan. I was beyond pumped when I heard about the trade between Ottawa and Edmonton. I mean, itís been at least a decade if not more since a bonafide 40 goal scorer has donned the blue and orange silks at Rexall. It was a big piece of the puzzle that was missing. And like many fans, it was a forgone conclusion to me. Of course Heatley will waive his no movement clause. Why wouldnít he?? The other teams had dropped out of the running and he wants out of Ottawa. He wasnít happy with the new coach and the way he was being used. Well, heís played for Quinn at the Olympics and heíd be the Man in Edmonton. Perfect Fit!! Canít wait for the Press Conference seeing the Heater drop on the #15 with the Oil Drop up front.

After a couple of days, no deal? No Press Conference?? Whatís up?? Heatley was blind sided?? Murray says that deal is off now because boss man Eugene had to pony up the $4 mil??? Ouch. Then came the aggressive Oiler fan, not only in me but my brethren as well. Talk radio was going off the hook; even national media was all over Heatley.

Heatleyís a bum, we donít want him. He canít be trusted. Heíll only want to get traded again. He stinks! Heís not that good anyway!

But then I thought about things for a second. Letís skate a mile in his skates and see where I would be.

I wonít express what I do for a day job and I am not trying to be conceited but I know that I am very good at what I do. Are there better people out there? Definitely. But I know I bring a lot of value to the table in my industry. So letís say I go to my boss tomorrow and tell him that I am not happy in Edmonton any longer. I would like to move to another location. He agrees and says there is a good chance that the offices in either Victoria (my favorite City in Canada) Vancouver or Quebec City are in need of a person in my position and he will get back to me. This is all looking alright to me. All the cities would be unique and interesting in their own ways and I would be happy in any of them. I donít hear anything for a week. All of a sudden, by boss comes into my office and say, ďI found a transfer for you. Let me know tomorrow. Oh, by the way, itís in Flin Flon Manitoba.Ē Now, I donít really know anything about Flin Flon and it might be an amazing place. I have talked to a few people from our Flin Flon office, but thatís all I know. Do I not have the right to ask, ďWhat happened to the other cities??Ē or ďCan I talk with my wife about this and give me a day or two to think about it.Ē

I can totally appreciate the ďblindsideĒ that Heatley has related in the media. And I can totally respect a guy to want to think about things. And, in the end, if he doesnít want to go he shouldnít have to. No different in my situation, I should have the right to say, ďWeíll Iíd rather stay here than go to Flin Flon, but donít worry boss, Iíll still produce what I always have.Ē

Now, as an Oiler fan, this is not the popular opinion right now. And as many of you have posted different things through PickupHockey.com as well as the media, many people are questioning the ability to trust him and have even gone as far as questioning him being invited to team Canadaís orientation camp.

Ask yourself this question:

Would I have not done the same thing if the same situation came up in my world today?

And more importantly:

Why would I think itís different for a hockey player?

Just because they get paid millions doesnít mean they donít have the same thoughts as you or I. There is not a person reading this today that would blindly transfer from where they live today to another location without knowing and understanding a little bit about the place. Why are hockey players so different?

Remember the commercial, Hockey players are just like you and I, only they are really good at hockey. Letís not chastise a guy for doing the exact same thing you or I would have done. Heís taken some time to think through a decision. Same as you or I would. He should have the opportunity to make the best decision he can for himself and his family. Same as you or I would. Just because he plays hockey it makes him different in our eyes.

Sometimes Iím sure glad Iím not a hockey player.

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Even if Heatley were silent - as in, he was asked to formally "ok the deal" and lift his no-trade clause after asking for a trade and getting one - and, if he was still silent . . . he nixed the trade. Period. End of story. Deal was nixed for the Ottawa Senators to get out of paying that 4mil.

Heatley must break out of his silence for anything to happen, and for anyone to guage what his thoughts are . . . but when he isn't even returning phone calls from captain Alfredsson, it certainly looks like the actions of a petulant, pouting child.

"Recently, Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson said that heíd tried to contact the 28-year-old Heatley but had yet to have his call returned." (Yahoo Sports)

"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug

Guest4182

Posted - 07/21/2009 : 17:27:01

quote:Originally posted by Beans15

Well, I guess we will have to agree to disagree. My opinion is that he has said nothing. It appears that some opinions are that if he said nothing, he must have said no.

After months of planning your wedding, you are standing there waiting for your lovely to be wife on your wedding day in front of a minister (or justice of the peace or whatever).

"Do you Beans15, take Oils15 as your lawfully wedded....""I do.""Do you Oils15, take Beans15 as your lawfully wedded...."You wait. Crickets chirp. You've only rented the place for 3 hours, it is now 10 hours pass and no word.No phone call, no explanation, nothing.

Yup. It was your fault for showing up. Better yet, it was the minister fault, he works in a church.

Beans15

Posted - 07/21/2009 : 08:24:39 Well, I guess we will have to agree to disagree. My opinion is that he has said nothing. It appears that some opinions are that if he said nothing, he must have said no.

slozo

Posted - 07/21/2009 : 04:36:37 "However, this is the biggest misconception. HEATLEY HAS NOT SAID ANYTHING. He has not said he will not waive the clause nor has he said he will."

So, why isn't Heatley on the Edmonton Oilers right now, and why did Ottawa have to pay out 4 mil?

Did some other, ungodly force come down from above and stop the deal, or was it just Heatley's actions? Remember, to actually stop the deal, you would have had to have one of three things happen: Edmonton pulls out, Ottawa pulls out, Heatley doesn't allow it to happen.

There is zero indication that Ottawa or Edmonton pulled out, and obviously it would have been against both of their best interests.

Heatley nixed the deal.

"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug

Beans15

Posted - 07/20/2009 : 09:53:50 See, this is where the media has twisted the story. The facts are not the facts in this case.

You are correct all the way up to the "Heatley nixed the deal by invoking his no trade clause." The clause does not need to be invoked, it needs to be waived to allow the trade to go through.

6 of one, half dozen of the other, right??

However, this is the biggest misconception. HEATLEY HAS NOT SAID ANYTHING. He has not said he will not waive the clause nor has he said he will. Saying nothing must mean, automatically by our brilliant hockey media people, that Heatley hates Edmonton, it's the anus of Canada, and Heatley is a bad team mate and bad person.

Just like my old gramps always said, "Never assume. You make and ass out of "U" and "ME."

In this case, his words ring very true. This is all based on assumptions.

slozo

Posted - 07/20/2009 : 07:19:00 Well, finally you make a point I can totally agree with - yes, we will never truly know what happened behind closed doors, and as a distant third party, we the fans can only speculate on many of the facets of this drama.

But what we can do, is analyse the things we know for sure - Heatley did ask for a trade (whether it was done professionally or not), there was a deal with Edmonton on the table before Ottawa had to pay the 4 mil bonus, and Heatley nixed the deal by invoking his no-trade clause. That is what we know for sure.

And that is what I am mostly basing my opinions on . . . supplemented with the suspicion that Heatley did indeed handle the trade request badly and sprung it on management in an unprofessional way.

Clouston(a good old boy from Viking) goes into the dressing room on February 3rd and asked Heatley to come into his office. He closes the door and calmly tells Heatley that he is a bag of crap. He's no good for the team, or hockey for what happened in Atlanta. CC says that Heatley will never be the man in Ottawa and that he might as well get used to sitting on the bench.

Does Heatley still need to grow up???

What about this:

Heatley writes a letter to Murray. In this letter, he talks about nothing but great things in Ottawa but he would like to move on. He says he would like to keep things quite about the trade and all he asks is that Murray honors the no trade clause and gives Heatley his ability to decline a team he is not interested. Murray then calls Heatley's agents and says that Heatley plays in Ottawa or will rot in a small market.

Does Heatley still need to grow up??

I am not saying in any way, shape, or form that these things happen. All I am saying is there are three sides to every story. One side, the other, and the truth. The media has portrayed this entire situation as very negative towards Heatley and none of us know (or will ever know) exactly what has happened. My point is that I would give both sides the benefit of doubt. I am sure both sides think they have done the right thing and both sides have actually handled this competely wrong. As you said in your comments

"The NHL will, fair enough, exhibit lots of PR damage control to make sure one of their most bankable stars doesn't get his image smeared. It happens every time there is a scandal . . . but that doesn't change the facts."

Focusing on the last statement, the media(nor you or I) does not know all the facts either. Only a few people do and they are not talking. Obviously, each side will do their best to make the other look like the bad guy. In my books, they are both the bad guy.

That was my point. There are multiple sides, not just the side of the greedy player. There is also the greedy GM and lets not forget the even greedier, heartless agent. The finger can't be pointed in one specific direction.

No one mentioned whether he legally can do what he did . . . my point of view is that: #1 - what he did was wrong from a moral standpoint, from a supposedly "down-to-earth everyman stand-up guy" standpoint. To ask for a trade in public (from what I understand), then get the trade but decide that wasn't the trade you exactly wanted and stop it using the clause that was his right to use . . . not cool.#2 - Don't believe the media spin. The NHL will, fair enough, exhibit lots of PR damage control to make sure one of their most bankable stars doesn't get his image smeared. It happens every time there is a scandal . . . but that doesn't change the facts.

I don't see Heatley as a piece of 'meat', as Beans seems to claim. I see him as a young millionaire superstar hockeyplayer, and also as a human being. I see him as one of the top 5 best in the game, a supreme talent . . . and I also see him as a young man who has a lot more growing up to do.

"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug

Beans15

Posted - 07/19/2009 : 15:18:41 Nice one sided view fellas. It's great to see people can be objective.

Granted, this blog was written in early July, it would have been far easier to support if Heatley would have talked by now, but the bottom line is regardless of the money he makes, the family he has (or doesn't have) he has the right (yes right) to choose what he wants to do. Contractually, he has not broken any rules and I would bet my life that the vast majority of the public would not be doing things much differently. Although the analogy used in not exact, I understand what this guy is trying to say. It's still Heatley's choice. He can even choose not to play at all!! And if a person is lead to beleive one thing will happen and something completely different happens, they still get to make the decision. Regardless of the occupation.

It's just nice to see that some "fans" view the players that make our game great as nothing more than hired pieces of meat that should just do what they are told and not think for themselves.

Heatley's situation is NOTHING like your work analogy, and it has many holes in it as a wiffle ball . . . not married, no kids, Canadian city, rabid fan base where he will be adored, his old place gets fair value, and - he gets that immediate trade he, like, just demanded.

Heatley gets zero sympathy from me . . . cry me a river, ya spoiled millionaire superstar. Yes, you are one amazing hockey player - but I wouldn't want you in Toronto, and as a casual fan of Edmonton as well, I don't want him there either.

"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug

Guest7093

Posted - 07/17/2009 : 20:50:23

quote:Originally posted by The 4th Line BangerI wonít express what I do for a day job and I am not trying to be conceited but I know that I am very good at what I do. Are there better people out there? Definitely. But I know I bring a lot of value to the table in my industry. So letís say I go to my boss tomorrow and tell him that I am not happy in Edmonton any longer. I would like to move to another location. He agrees and says there is a good chance that the offices in either Victoria (my favorite City in Canada) Vancouver or Quebec City are in need of a person in my position and he will get back to me. This is all looking alright to me. All the cities would be unique and interesting in their own ways and I would be happy in any of them. I donít hear anything for a week. All of a sudden, by boss comes into my office and say, ďI found a transfer for you. Let me know tomorrow. Oh, by the way, itís in Flin Flon Manitoba.Ē Now, I donít really know anything about Flin Flon and it might be an amazing place. I have talked to a few people from our Flin Flon office, but thatís all I know. Do I not have the right to ask, ďWhat happened to the other cities??Ē or ďCan I talk with my wife about this and give me a day or two to think about it.Ē

The analogy is almost correct.

1. I'm not happy and you have to move me to a competitor. Oh and make sure the competitor is in these cities. I hope you can get someone competent as my replacement.2. Oh that new contract I just signed just a couple of months ago and with the no firing clause. Yah. I'm going to wave that one in your face if you even think of moving me to a city not of my choosing.2a. Remember that new contract that gave me a big fat 100% raise. Yah it has this thing where you need to give a big signing bonuse while I wait. Thanks for the mucho millions.3. Heater has no wife. So I guess he needs to consult with his dogs or whatever.4. What? You get something reasonable in return for my happy departure but I have to move to Alert? Umm no, see point 2 about what is included in that brand spanking new contract I just signed.5. Can I stay with the company now and pretend this didn't happen because there is a really big convention with that happens only once in 4 years that I'd like to attend? (sorry this one is stretching it a bit)